Had an 'incident' today: A MN lake, 'White Bear Lake', is at historic low levels - water apparently draining out into underground aquifer. So guess what I did? Huge rock vs dagger board on high speed broad reach (I think winds were 15-20). Almost pitch poled over the rock. Through some miracle the only damage was to a now completely obliterated dagger board. Anyway, the sudden near-stop got me thinking about how I could have face planted into the mast without too much difficulty - and then pitched poled the boat.

I always wear a PFD but this has gotten me thinking about having something that will keep me face up if unconscious. I wear a Stholquist vest that is this style:

I know that there are PFDs (type 2 like this:

) that are supposed to keep you face up. But that looks miserable to wear. Anyone been unfortunate enough to have been unconscious in the Stholquist type shown above and lived to tell? Any thoughts (besides staying conscious) on PDFs that fit this need and are still workable for sailing (couldn't find old posts to specially address this issue)?

We use different terminology in Britain, so don't copy my names for things. But what I would call a "life jacket" is designed to keep you face up if unconscious. Yachtsmen often wear them, as do professional rescue services. Normally they use the inflatable kind, which are quite compact deflated. For the scenario you have in mind, you'd want the type which inflate automatically when immersed in water.

The trouble with those is, when inflated, they are so bulky that they would seriously limit what measures you could take to help yourself. Yes, they'll keep you face up, but you're pretty much reduced to being a passive casualty, waiting for somebody else to rescue you. If anybody has experience of doing a self-rescue while wearing something like this, I'd love to hear about it.

A normal PFD ("buoyancy aid" in Britain) won't do the face-up-support job, but does leave an active swimmer enough freedom of movement to self-rescue. They also score points for comfort, and for pockets so that you can, for example, keep your radio with you even if you end up in the water.

So you need to decide what kind of "accident" is most likely, and dress accordingly. Not very helpful, I know. Sorry.

a couple years ago our bowman got knocked clean off the boat by the boom during an accidental gybe in gusty conditions. He was wearing a 'full' jacket type PFD and wound up face down in the water, out cold for 15-20 seconds.

The PFD did not roll him over to a face up position.

Fortunately he came to just as I was about to jump in for him, we quickly got the life ring around him and hauled him in.

Hmmm. Trap harnesses that turn you face down. Yuck. Not sure I can endure the crap from my fleet but I'm seriously considering the helmet option. I did once hit my head on the mast during a fall from the H17 wing (I was trapped out from the wing). Fortunately it was only a minor injury. I wear a bike helmet everytime I bike and I've never fallen off of that. Conversely, I don't wear a sailing helmet but I have had a few head strikes over the course of my sailing life. It's the old safety vs humiliation equation. I'll probably go the humiliation route.